


Experiment 3142

by influentyeol



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Medical Experimentation, Medical Torture, Minor Character Death, Not a Happy Story, Original Character Death(s), inspired by maximum ride series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 02:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5810635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/influentyeol/pseuds/influentyeol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(otherwise known as That’s What the Government Wants You to Think)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Experiment 3142

**Author's Note:**

> This was a short story I wrote for English class :D

 

They looked like delicate little things, clinging to her like a second skin. A second skin that bubbled and morphed, protruding like bubbles of air trying to break free. Delicate white sprigs sat on the bridge of her nose, yellow floral funnels settled in the junction between her neck and her jaw, pale buttons protruded beneath the pout of her bottom lip, and a variety of other mushrooms dappled her forearms with splotches of color.

 

They had found her deep within the forest, when a spike of radiation alarmed the community leaders. The scientists had found her surrounded by an assortment of electric blue flowers and wildly exotic plants, but even among them she remained conspicuous.

The doctors had never seen anything like it, their eyes wide and curious as they examined the phenomenon that was Oni. A bit of fat clung to her bones, but her cheeks were sallow and her eyes shrunk in. Her collarbones were prominent, and her cheeks were dry and ashen. Aside from the fungal forest that sprouted from her skin, the doctors all agreed she looked like a typical child.

 

At first, they delighted at the child, pushing lollipops and sweets into her dusty hands and directing bland, unremarkable smiles in her general direction. They poked and prodded at her ribs, careful not to jostle the waves of Pleurocybella porrigens that clung to her sides. They went through the typical procedures, pressing cold stethoscopes to the girl’s chest and peering into her throat with grunts and indistinguishable murmurs. However, it was not long before their patience started to fade and their procedures began to oscillate into wild territory. The scientists looked on impassively, scribbling down notes onto their pads as little electrodes were attached to bits of flesh and screams echoed down the hospital hallways. They studied the mushrooms from a distance, their brows furrowed in frustration rather than awe as bulbs continued to poke out of Oni’s skin.

 

At the end of the day, their minds disgruntled at the living ecosystem that sat on the medical bench, they would usher her back to her room, hidden in a corner of the hospital. Their fingers skimmed her back, reluctant to edge any closer to the accessories that clustered around her spine. “ _Little One_ ” they called her, or sometimes, “ _3142_ ” with a small quirk of their lips. When they were feeling particularly cruel however, they would spit “ _Fungus Girl_ ” at her, eyes skimming past her form quickly, ignoring her tears and bruised skin. _Useless_ , the nurses would hiss at her as she passed them in the hallways, her back hunched in fright. They would motion for her to leave the laboratories with impatient hand gestures, leaving the young girl to her own devices as they busied themselves with other experiments.

 

Occasionally, Oni would catch a glimpse of the other experiments. As she sat on the medical bench, needles prodding into the soft tissues of her arm, she would see the other experiments being carted around in varying stages of distress and submission. She sat, unable to move, as a boy with wings was carted away. He was no older than ten, and his glassy eyes lolled towards Oni in a farewell of sorts. Through the cracks of the doors, she saw as an older experiment thrashed, his screams hoarse and ragged, strapped to the exam table. Needles of different thicknesses stuck out of his chest like porcupine quills as different chemicals seeped into his body. He turned his head towards the door. His mouth was bloody, lined with sharp canines, and fur sat matted on his face. But it was his eyes that scared her. His eyes were blank except for an unrecognizable, feral terror. She heard him screaming in her dreams for weeks.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

_-22 months later-_

Oni stood behind the platform, her fingers digging into the wood stand as the crowd hummed with interest. The hospital stood behind her, the red bricks gleaming in the sun. She took a few deep breaths, breathing in the air, reveling in her temporary freedom, before opening her mouth to speak.

 

‘I am here today because of the doctors and researchers of Maud A. Faction Hospital helped me to rid the unnatural disease.” The words rolled off her tongue clumsily, unfamiliar with speaking to anyone besides the Doctors. “They have continuously helped to fix me of this disease, allowing me to live my life normally.” Journalists in the front of the crowd edged closer, a few of the more audacious ones shouting out questions and criticism. Oni’s breathing quickened and she staggered back. She could feel a mushroom sprouting out from between her shoulder blades, and another few sprigs of coprinoid breaking out across her arm, the flesh stinging from where the psilocybin had been ripped out that morning.

 

Her temporary freedom was taken from her quickly as bodyguards surrounded her, towering over her as they escorted her off the platform and farther away from the chaos of the crowds. She let herself be guided away, stumbling blindly between their bodies as more mushrooms split through her cheeks, covering her face with a blanket of basciana mushrooms. It wasn’t long before they reached the destination and she was shoved forward.

 

Oni closed her eyes, feeling more mushrooms sprouting across the webbing between her fingers. A click sounded behind her and she let the darkness swallow her whole.

 

 


End file.
